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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25215862">Here Before</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepsWithCoyotes/pseuds/SleepsWithCoyotes'>SleepsWithCoyotes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Saiyuki (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Archival Fic, Buried memories, Community: ironman7, Don't copy to another site, Fluff, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:53:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,027</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25215862</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepsWithCoyotes/pseuds/SleepsWithCoyotes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Their mornings go like this a lot.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cho Hakkai/Sha Gojyo, Genjo Sanzo/Son Goku</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Here Before</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Back to working on moving stuff over from the spambot...this one's from the 2007 Ironman7 challenge, week 3 - prompt #2: whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am home again</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Belly still full from breakfast, nose and cheeks stinging red and lungs burned raw from the icy mountain air, Goku barreled laughing through the snow, feinting left and right as Gojyo pegged hard-packed snowballs in his wake. "Come back here and take it like a man, shrimp!" Gojyo taunted, but Goku wasn't stupid. Gojyo had that <i>look</i>, the one that said he might <i>start</i> with snowballs, but the game wasn't over until somebody got a double-handful of snow shoved down the back of his pants.</p>
<p>At least the clouds had rolled away overnight. According to the innkeeper, the passes would be clear again the following day, or clear enough for a party in a hurry if their dragon had four-wheel drive.</p>
<p>He supposed they were in a hurry, all right. Sanzo had been muttering about trading Jeep in for a mountain goat, and while Goku didn't think Sanzo would really do it--Hakkai would never stand for it, for one thing--it was more like a...like a <i>signpost</i> to show how irritated he was. Like high water marks at river's edge. Water to <i>here</i>: choppy but weatherable. Water to <i>here</i>: run for the hills.</p>
<p>The more outlandish the thing Sanzo threatened to replace one of them with, the closer he was to exploding.</p>
<p>Which was why Goku was out here, a handmade scarf flying out behind him, letting Gojyo chase him through drifts of fine powder that piled up over his knees. There were worse things to run afoul of than a glinty-eyed kappa with an endless arsenal of snow.</p>
<p>Like, for instance, an unsuspecting and suddenly <i>very</i> quiet Hakkai who happened to step outside as Goku was fleeing that way--a Hakkai who did not <i>zag</i> when Goku <i>zigged</i>.</p>
<p>"Oh, shit," he heard Gojyo mutter behind him, accompanied by a skidding stumble as Gojyo tried abruptly to backtrack.</p>
<p>Reaching up slowly, Hakkai removed his monocle and wiped the snow from his face with the side of one thumb. He was smiling, but it was the same sort of glinty-eyed smile that Gojyo had been wearing just moments before.</p>
<p>When Hakkai started to walk calmly and deliberately towards Gojyo, Goku dove out of the way and flattened himself to the side of the inn, waiting until it was safe to scurry inside.</p>
<p>Oh yeah. Someone was definitely getting a pants full of snow. Only considering that this was Gojyo and Hakkai, it was probably a good idea to slip quietly away before he had to pretend not to see anything weird.</p>
<p>The inn seemed dark after the bright glare outside, though all the shutters had been thrown open wide to let the daylight in. Spring hadn't really settled in to stay this high up in the mountains, and except for the innkeeper and his daughter--who was a <i>fantastic</i> cook, and pretty handy with knitting needles, too--they had the whole place to themselves.</p>
<p>Which might be why Sanzo hadn't retreated to his room yet, choosing instead to sit at their now-cleared breakfast table, reading a paper two weeks out of date with a steaming cup of coffee at his elbow. Though he didn't look up when Goku came tromping in, he wasn't scowling either.</p>
<p>Goku thought for a moment, sized up his chances, and wandered over with a hopeful smile.</p>
<p>Cool violet eyes glanced sharply over the top of the paper as Goku sat down, but they didn't narrow, didn't turn particularly fierce. "You're tracking up their clean floor," Sanzo said flatly, holding Goku's eyes a moment longer.</p>
<p>"Sorry," he said, holding his breath....</p>
<p>"Hmph." Sanzo's eyes dropped again, and with that tacit permission, Goku's grin became full-fledged.</p>
<p>The light from the window haloed Sanzo in gold and white, and if Goku let his eyes fall half-closed, the man himself seemed to glow. <i>Like the sun</i>, a soft voice murmured in the very back of his thoughts, but that thought was so common, so oft-repeated, it barely registered. Propping his chin on his fist, he leaned one elbow on the table and pretended to read the back page of Sanzo's paper, even though it annoyed the man to no end. It was the best excuse he had for staying this close, and if he could just keep quiet, Sanzo would probably let him, at least for a little while.</p>
<p>The only flaw in his otherwise perfect scheme was that the back page was boring. Youkai attacking here, youkai attacking there...only they'd just come from those towns and had kicked youkai butt. Old news, literally. They'd probably better find Sanzo a new paper soon, or he'd turn as grouchy as he got when he was out of smokes.</p>
<p>Sighing a little, Goku stretched his arm across the table and slouched down, resting the side of his head in the crook of his arm. Sanzo didn't even twitch.</p>
<p><i>I could ask for some coffee</i>, he thought with a smile, closing his eyes as he breathed in deep. Despite the snow, this was all so familiar: the scent of coffee and newsprint, the silence, the warm feeling of being <i>allowed</i> and not chased away. The other monks back home--they knew better than to bother Sanzo when he was reading his paper. Only Goku could rush in while Sanzo was still lingering over his coffee, and it didn't matter if Goku was loud or dirty or fit to burst if he didn't get to ask a question <i>right now</i>. Sanzo might yell, might even take after him with the fan, but he'd never send Goku--</p>
<p><i>Monkey</i>, someone grumbled in memory, someone who shone--<i>like the sun</i>--who sat in a perfect room warmed by perfect light from the perfect gardens outside, who sat and drank coffee and answered in a careless monotone when Goku started his chant of:  <i>But why, Konzen? Why?</i></p>
<p>Goku blinked his eyes open with a start, vaguely aware that he'd been napping, maybe dreaming, and watched with sleepy incomprehension as Sanzo reached for his cup, missed it, and...ran his fingers lightly, almost stealthily, through Goku's hair.</p>
<p>Careful not to smile too widely, Goku closed his eyes again and pretended amiably to sleep.</p>
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